Europa 1400.Originally Posted by Sigh
Europa 1400.
Though the Metacritic score is 82, many people find Fallout Tactics to be mediocre. This is probably because it was not the RPG they wanted but instead a tactical squad shooter. Taken for what it is instead of what one wants it to be is a better way of approaching it. I've played through the game several times and absolutely love it.
I tried it myself a short while ago, and I too found it fairly good. It was more challenging than I'm used to (Take from that what you will), but I certainly liked what I played. I just never cared to play beyond the first mission or so.
I really enjoyed the original Kane and Lynch.
It just felt gritty and adult/mature and harsh and physical.
I liked the way battles felt real worldish, where enemies would keep pouring in and fighting was about ducking for cover, firing wildly and keeping moving.
Man I've always been curious about Kane and Lynch and I always hear good things followed by lines like this:
:/ I'm not convinced.
It wasn't about the gunplay really, it was about the characters. For the first time, or one of the very few times, you had main characters that weren't immediately "likable"; one was a mercenary/murderer, and the other was a suggested rapist/murderer. But because you get wrapped up in their personal motivations, again something rarely seen in game stories, you start to give a damn about their objectives. The firefights were fine, though the environments, not the generic cover systems, are what made them more than mediocre; the club sequence, where you are trying to spot enemies through the raving crowd was unlike anything else I'd played before (the Mardi Gras mission in Blood Money has a crowd like it, but you are never forced to wade through it).
There is absolutely nothing mediocre about Fallout Tactics except for the storyline which goes a bit off the rails towards the end.
The Suffering. Utterly forgettable combat, but the atmospheric environments more than made up for it. Shockingly original setting too; the prison setting is used so often in film and literature, yet it's something you rarely see in a video game, the natural constraints of a prison setting could be the reason, but Midway did a fine job making the prison island seem like a sprawling nightmare; starting out in a dank cell and moving through claustrophobic corridors, then suddenly being forced out onto the grounds and the encompassing island, yet even in those open areas they managed to maintain a constant sense of dread. Never played the sequel though.
Bejewelled 2. Though Ive played it to death, and now if I think of it two long, I feel guilty.
I'm really enjoying Space Siege right now. Off the bat I'll admit that the games controls are its fatal flaw. Q and E really should have been dodge left and dodge right keys. The combat demands it with you having to dodge missiles and grenades as a matter of cource towards the middle of the game. The playtesters should have been fired and banished from the industry for missing this.
However.
Other than this the game reminds me hugely of the old Crusader games from Origin. The environment gets torn up during battles, the ubiquitous explodey things strewn everywhere ensure that the game is a non-stop fireworks display (Who cares why they're there - it's fun.). I wish that the professional reviewers who had reviewed the game had talked about this a bit more.
I like the fact that you level up at fixed points in the game instead of relying on experience points. It's a different approach and it really makes no difference in the grand scheme of things. I like that fact that instead of cluttering up a limited inventory with fifty gazzillion useless knives and swords you have a simple currency of repair parts (I wouldn't want every game to take this approach but it is no more obnoxious that Mass Effect 2.). The combat is pretty cool and would have been awesome if the controls had been designed properly. I'm fond of my little robotic buddy, he's gotten me through some tough scrapes (But once again I wish he would be a bit more aware of what is happening and get away from the grenades on occasion.)
Maybe I didn't buy into the hype but the cybernetics or not moral of the story doesn't phase me. It's nice to be given a bit of a choice and I've personally chosen to be human for reasons that I think fit the story. The game isn't congratulating me or assuming anything about my motives which is a nice change.
All-in-all this is looking to be the only action RPG I've ever finished and for me it is a hell of a lot more fun than something like Torchlight or even Titan Quest which I considered an over long chore.
I'm glad I didn't pay full price for this but I'm still having a blast.
The Suffering is not mediocre. It's a solidly good game with great enemy design. Really, it doesn't belong in this thread.
Last edited by BobsLawnService; 21-08-2011 at 06:31 PM.
I really enjoyed Cold Fear, from 2005. It's pretty much a standard survival horror effort, but I found the setting and story telling just right for the genre. (I'd probably think twice before recommending it to anybody else, though.)
Never got into Titan Quest single player, but with 5 or 6 friends on a LAN and a stack of pizza and beer it's a hell of a grower.
Last edited by Taidan; 21-08-2011 at 10:15 PM.
Can you not rebind the keys?
Nope. There is absolutely no movement using keys. It's click the mouse to move navigation and if you press 'E' you dodge in the direction of the mouse cursor. This sucks because it is usually positioned over the bugger who is firing missiles at you meaning you careen directly into any oncoming high explosive ordinance. The WASD and cursor keys control the camera.
Septerra Core, probably. It's almost unbeatable without a solution and repetitive as hell, but I still love it.
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